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Silverlight is Microsoft's new technology for delivering content such as audio, video and applications. An alternative to Flash and Ajax, it is based on Windows Media.

Microsoft said the decision to add Linux was based on customer feedback. It will collaborate with Novell's Mono project to develop the software. Mono provides software for running Microsoft's .Net platform on Linux as well as Mac OS X and other Unix-based operating systems, and Silverlight is based on .Net.

"Silverlight is a popular new way to build and deliver cross-browser, cross-platform experiences on the web," says Miguel de Icaza, vice president of Developer Platforms and leader of the Mono project at Novell. "Novell is excited to work with Microsoft to extend Silverlight beyond Windows and Macintosh to Linux with Moonlight [the name of the project], so Linux users everywhere can enhance their rich media and interactive experiences on the web."

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Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, claims the company is committed to ensuring that Linux users have access to the tools needed to begin building Silverlight applications.

"Our expectations for compelling, immersive experiences on the web are increasing daily," Ozzie says. "With today's release of Silverlight 1.0, we're making it possible for developers and designers to deliver to individuals the kind of high-def experiences they crave by integrating data and services in rich and unique ways."

Silverlight provides support for streaming as well as downloading and playing VC-1 and WMV video, and MP3 and WMA audio within a browser. According to Scott Guthrie, general manager of Microsoft's Developer Division, VC-1 is the key component.

"The VC-1 codec is a big step forward for incorporating media within a web experience - since it supports very efficiently playing high-quality, high-definition video in the browser," he said. "It is a standards-based media format that is implemented in all HD-DVD and Blu ray players, and is supported by hundreds of millions of mobile devices, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows Media Center."

In addition to the release of Silverlight 1.0, Microsoft has also released Expression Encoder 1.0 (formerly Expression Media Encoder) for encoding and publishing rich media content to Silverlight.